SIMULATION OF CONDYLAR GROWTH IN THE CAT WITH PULSATING ELECTROMAGNETIC CURRENTS

Orthodontists have been, and are, interested in influencing facial gro wth, specifically, mandibular growth. The purpose of this investigatio n is to enhance condylar growth by means of electric stimulation. Eigh t growing cats were bilaterally condylotomized and unilaterally at ran dom received electric stimulation. Before the condylotomy bonemarkers were implanted in the zygomatic process and above the condylotomy site . The condylotomy effectively separated the head of the condyle from t he body of the mandible, thus unloading the head. After 5 weeks, impla nt separation indicated increased condylar growth on the treated side of all eight cats. Histologically, the treated condyles of six cats we re different from the controls in that the hypertrophic zone was irreg ular and vascularization increased. The treated condyle showed signifi cantly more bonemarker separation than the control condyle. On average , the treated condyle showed 1.24 mm more separation than the control (p = 0.001 by the paired sample t test).